According to observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine against the background of the Ukraine crisis.

There had been artillery fire, diplomatic sources said on Thursday, citing the OSCE.

Eastern Ukrainian separatists accused the government troops of violating the current ceasefire.

The army's morning report, on the other hand, only reported isolated violations by the other side.

The Luhansk rebels said that dozens of mortar shells were fired at several locations in the Luhansk region, especially in the morning hours.

Insurgent positions in the Donetsk region were also fired upon.

The rebels returned fire.

Neither side reported any losses in their own ranks.

Lukashenko ready to deploy nuclear weapons

In the past few days, OSCE observers had identified fewer ceasefire violations on average than in the previous year.

On the other hand, according to the Interfax agency, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow that Kiev had increased its "provocative actions" in the past few days and that the situation was very dangerous.

Since 2014, Western-backed government troops have been fighting Russian-backed separatists in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, not far from the Russian border.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has dismissed allegations from Belarus that the military alliance poses a potential threat to the country.

"NATO is not a threat, NATO is a defense alliance," he said after a defense ministers' meeting of the 30 member countries in Brussels. NATO, for its part, is "concerned" because Russia is modernizing its nuclear arsenal.

Belarusian head of state Alexandr Lukashenko had previously declared that he would be ready to station nuclear weapons in the event of a threat from the West.

Lukashenko spoke against the background of tensions between Western states and Russia as a Belarusian ally in the Ukraine crisis.

Minsk and Moscow started joint military exercises in Belarus last week, which are expected to last until February 20.

Russia has "enough troops and capabilities for a large-scale invasion of Ukraine with very little or no warning," NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said on Thursday.

"That's what makes the situation so dangerous." Stoltenberg had previously confirmed that there was no credible evidence of a withdrawal by Russia from the border area with Ukraine.

Doubts about Russia's withdrawal

Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) said on the sidelines of the NATO meeting that she could not yet confirm any Russian troop withdrawal.

Rather, Washington and London accused Russia of further increasing its troops.

The Defense Ministry in Moscow said units of the Southern Military District had "completed their tactical exercises" in the Crimean Peninsula and were "returning to their home bases by train."

Television footage showed a train loaded with military vehicles crossing a bridge connecting Russia's annexed Ukrainian peninsula to the mainland.

The ministry also announced the return of armored units and other military vehicles to their bases.

The US government, on the other hand, classifies the partial withdrawal announced by Moscow as false information and instead assumes that the military presence will continue to expand.

In "the past few days," Russia has brought about 7,000 additional troops near the Ukrainian border, "and some of them just arrived today," a senior White House official said Wednesday night.

According to US President Joe Biden and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, there is still a risk of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

During a phone call, both agreed that the situation in the region should be considered extremely serious in view of the massive Russian troop deployment in the border area with Ukraine, said the spokesman for the federal government, Steffen Hebestreit, on Wednesday.

A significant withdrawal of Russian troops has not been observed so far, the highest level of vigilance is required.

Both leaders welcomed statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin that diplomatic efforts should continue.

It is now important to pursue them further with high pressure.

It is important to enter into a constructive dialogue on questions of European security, to implement the Minsk agreements and to make progress in the Normandy format with the support of Germany and France.

The key to this lies in Moscow.

Russia surprisingly announced on Tuesday that after maneuvers the withdrawal of troops had begun.

At a meeting with Scholz in Moscow, Putin also declared that Russia did not want a new war in Europe.

"It's too early to be optimistic"

The CDU foreign politician Norbert Röttgen warned against premature optimism in the Ukraine crisis.

"It's good that the Chancellor's visit to Moscow took place," Röttgen told the editorial network Germany (RND).

"But it's still too early to be optimistic.

Nothing has changed in this matter.

There is a clear difference between what the Russians say and what they do.”

According to Röttgen, there has never been a Russian troop withdrawal.

In addition, the Russian Duma has submitted an application to recognize the "people's republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk, which have broken away from Kiev, as independent states and thus no longer regard them as part of Ukraine.